Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-fnpn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-29T15:07:08.316Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Simulation of wake vortex effects for UAVs in close formation flight

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2016

D. Saban ,
J. F. Whidborne  and
A. K. Cooke
D. Saban
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Sciences, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK
J. F. Whidborne
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Sciences, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK
A. K. Cooke
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Sciences, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper addresses the development of multiple UAV deployment simulation models that include representative aerodynamic cross-coupling effects. Applications may include simulations of autonomous aerial refuelling and formation flying scenarios. A novel wake vortex model has been developed and successfully integrated within a Matlab/Simulink simulation environment. The wake vortex model is both sufficiently representative to support studies of aerodynamic interaction between multiple air vehicles, and straightforward enough to be used within real time or near real time air-to-air simulations. The model integration process is described, and computational results of a two-vehicle-formation flight are presented.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 113 , Issue 1149 , November 2009 , pp. 727 - 738
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2009 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Greene, G.C., An approximate model of vortex decay in the atmosphere, J Aircr, 1986, 23, pp 566–573.Google Scholar
2. Blake, W. and Multhopp, D., Design, performance and modeling considerations for close formation flight, 1998, AAIA 98-4343, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit, 10-12 August 1998, Boston, MA, USA.Google Scholar
3. Myatt, J.H. and Blake, W.B., Aerodynamic database issues for modeling close formation flight, 1999, AAIA 99-4194, AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference, 9-11 August 1999, Portland, OR, USA.Google Scholar
4. Blake, W.B., An aerodynamic model for simulation of close formation flight, 2000, AAIA 2000-4304, AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference and Exhibit, 14-17 August 2000, Denver, CO, USA.Google Scholar
5. Blake, W.B. and Gingras, D.R., Comparison of predicted and measured formation flight interference effects, J Aircr, March-April 2004, 41, (2), pp 201–207.Google Scholar
6. Blake, W.B., Dickes, E.G. and Gingras, D.R., UAV aerial refueling – wind tunnel results and comparison with analytical predictions, 2004, AAIA 2004-4820, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit, 16-19 August 2004, Providence, RI, USA.Google Scholar
7. Beukenberg, M. and Hummel, D., Aerodynamics, performance and control of airplanes in formation flight, 1990, 17th Congress of ICAS, 9-14 September 1990, Stockholm, Sweden, Proceedings, 2, pp 1777–1794.Google Scholar
8. Hansen, J.L. and Cobleigh, B.R., Induced moment effects of formation flight using two F/A-18 aircraft, 2002, AIAA 2002-4489, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit, 5-8 August 2002, Monterey, CA, USA.Google Scholar
9. Lavretsky, E. and Misovec, K., Phase I: Formation flight control design, 2002, AIAA’s First Technical Conference and Workshop on Unmanned Aerospace Vehicles.Google Scholar
10. Vachon, M.J., Ray, R.J., Walsh, K.R. and Ennix, K., F/A–18 aircraft performance benefits measured during the autonomous formation flight project, 2002, AIAA 2002-4491, AIAA Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit, 5-8 August 2002, Monterey, CA, USA.Google Scholar
11. Proctor, F.H. and Switzer, G.F., Numerical simulation of aircraft trailing vortices, 2000, Ninth Conference on Aviation, Range and Aerospace Meteorology, pp 511–516.Google Scholar
12. Anderson, J.D., Fundamentals of Aerodynamics, 2007, Fourth Edition, McGraw-Hill, Boston, USA.Google Scholar
13. Le Moigne, A. and Qin, N., LES with numerical dissipation for aircraft wake vortices, 2006, AIAA 2006-1258, 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, 9-12 January 2006, Reno, NV, USA.Google Scholar
14. Spence, G.T., Le Moigne, A, Allerton, D.J. and Qin, N., Wake vortex model for real-time flight simulation based on large eddy simulation, J Aircr, March-April 2007, 44, (2), pp 467–475.Google Scholar
15. Vlachos, P. and Telionis, D., Wing-tip-to-wing-tip aerodynamic interference, 2003, AIAA 2003-0609, AIAA 41st Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, 6-9 January 2003, Reno, NV.Google Scholar
16. Margason, R.J., Kjelgaard, S.O., Sellers, W.L., Morris, C.E.K., Walkey, K.B. and Shields, E.W., Subsonic panel methods – a comparison of several production codes, 1985, AIAA 85-0280, AIAA 23rd Aerospace Sciences Meeting, 14-17 January 1985, Reno, NV, USA.Google Scholar
17. Bloy, A.W., Lamont, P.J., Abu-Assaf, H.A. and Ali, K.A.M., The lateral dynamic stability and control of a large receiver aircraft during air-to-air refuelling, Aeronaut J, June-July 1986, 90, (896), pp 237–243.Google Scholar
18. Bloy, A.W., Ali, K.A.M. and Trochalidis, V., The longitudinal dynamic stability and control of a large receiver aircraft during air-to-air refuelling, Aeronaut J, February 1987, 91, (902), pp 64–71.Google Scholar
19. Bloy, A.W. and Trochalidis, V., The performance and longitudinal stability and control of large receiver aircraft during air to air refuelling, Aeronaut J, December 1989, 93, (930), pp 367–378.Google Scholar
20. Bloy, A.W. and Trochalidis, V., The aerodynamic interference between tanker and receiver aircraft during air-to-air refuelling, Aeronaut J, May 1990, 94, (935), pp 165–171.Google Scholar
21. Bloy, A.W., Trochalidis, V. and West, M.G., The aerodynamic interference between a flapped tanker aircraft and a receiver aircraft during air-to-air refuelling, Aeronaut J, October 1991, 95, (948), pp 274–282.Google Scholar
22. Pachter, M., D’Azzo, J.J. and Proud, A.W., Tight formation flight control, J Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, March-April 2001, 24, (2), pp 246–254.Google Scholar
23. Bloy, A.W., West, M.G., Lea, K.A. and Joumaa, M., Lateral aerodynamic interference between tanker and receiver in air-to-air refueling, J Aircr, September-October 1993, 30, (5), pp 705–710.Google Scholar
24. Melin, T., A vortex lattice MATLAB implementation for linear aerodynamic wing applications, December 2000, Master’s thesis, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden.Google Scholar
25. Karkehabadi, R., Wind-tunnel measurements of hazard posed by lift-generated wakes, J Aircr, November-December 2004, 41, (6), pp 1424–1429.Google Scholar
26. Bloy, A.W. and West, M.G., Interference between tanker wing wake with roll-up and receiver aircraft, J Aircr, September-October 1994, 31, (5), pp 1214–1216.Google Scholar
27. Bloy, A.W. and Joumaa, M., Lateral and directional stability and control in air-to-air refuelling, J Aerospace Eng, 1995, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part G- 209, (G4), pp 299–305.Google Scholar
28. Bloy, A.W. and Lea, K.A., Directional stability of a large receiver aircraft in air-to-air refueling, J Aircr, March-April 1995, 32, (2), pp 453–455.Google Scholar
29. Wang, Z. and Mook, D.T., Numerical aerodynamic analysis of formation flight, 2003, AAIA 2003-610, 41st Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, 6-9 January 2003, Reno, NV, USA.Google Scholar
30. Capetta, R., Giulietti, F. and Innocenti, M., Wakecad: Aerodynamics interference caculation toolbox for aircraft design, simulation and control, 2001, AIAA 2001-4180, AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit, 6-9 August 2001, Montreal, Canada.Google Scholar
31. Holzapfel, F., Frech, M., Gerz, T., Tafferner, A., Hahn, K.-U., Schwarz, C., Joos, H.-D., Korn, B., Lenz, H., Luckner, R. and Hohne, G., Aircraft wake vortex scenarios simulation package – WakeScene, Aerospace Sci and Tech, 2008.Google Scholar
32. Lewis, T.A., Flight Data Analysis and Simulation of Wind Effects During Aerial Refueling, 2008, Master’s thesis, University of Texas at Arlington.Google Scholar
33. Venkataramanan, S., Dogan, A. and Blake, W., Vortex ffect modelling in aircraft formation flight, 2003, AIAA 2003-5385, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit, 11-14 August 2003, Austin, TX, USA.Google Scholar
34. Venkataramanan, S. and Dogan, A., Dynamic effects of trailing vortex with turbulence & time-varying inertia in aerial refueling, 2004, AIAA 2004-4945, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit, 16-19 August 2004, Providence, RI, USA.Google Scholar
35. Venkataramanan, S. and Dogan, A., A multi-UAV simulation for formation reconfiguration, 2004, AIAA 2004-4800, AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference and Exhibit, 16-19 August 2004, Providence, RI, USA.Google Scholar
36. Venkataramanan, S. and Dogan, A., Modeling of aerodynamic coupling between aircraft in close proximities, 2004, AIAA 2004-5172, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit, 16-19 August 2004, Providence, RI, USA.Google Scholar
37. Dogan, A. and Venkataramanan, S., Nonlinear control for reconfiguration of unmanned-aerial-vehicle formation, J Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, July-August 2005, 28, (4), pp 667–678.Google Scholar
38. Dogan, A., Venkataramanan, S. and Blake, W., Modeling of aerodynamic coupling between aircraft in close proximity, J Aircr, July-August 2005, 42, (4), pp 941–955.Google Scholar
39. Dogan, A., Sato, S. and Blake, W., Flight control and simulation for aerial refueling, 2005, AIAA 2005-6264, AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit, 15-18 August 2005, San Francisco, CA, USA.Google Scholar
40. Weissinger, J., The lift distribution of swept-back wings, March 1947, Technical Memorandum 1120, NACA.Google Scholar
41. Schlichting, H., Aerodynamics of the Airplane, 1979, McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
42. Sorton, E.F. and Hammaker, S., Simulated flight testing of an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle using FlightGear, 2005, AIAA 2005-7083, AIAA Infotech@Aerospace 2005 Conference and Exhibit, 26-29 September 2005, Arlington, VA, USA.Google Scholar
43. FlightGear official website: www.flightgear.org/.Google Scholar
44. Rasmussen, S.J. and Breslin, G.B., AVDS: a flight systems design tool for visualization and engineer-in-the-loop simulation, 1997, AIAA 1997-3467, AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit, 11-13 August 1997, New-Orleans, LA, USA.Google Scholar
45. AVDS official website: www.rassimtech.com/.Google Scholar
46. Kurylowich, G., A method for assessing the impact of wake vortices on USAF operations, July 1979, Technical Report AFFDL-TR-79-3060, Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433.Google Scholar
47. ASTRAEA website: www.projectastraea.co.uk/.Google Scholar